Alphabet puzzles, where the child inserts each letter in its designated spot, builds letter recognition and requires children to concentrate on the subtle differences between character shapes. Additionally, many alphabet puzzles place the letters right to left and top to bottom. Reinforcing this direction of vision helps train children's eye muscles to view letters and words right to left and top to bottom, as they would while reading a book.
Set up a station with printed picture books, pieces of paper and markers. Encourage the children to look through the printed materials and draw pictures pertaining to the stories. Although they can't read the printed words, looking at the pictures on each page that correspond to the words builds their sense of comprehension. Drawing their own pictures related to the story strengthens their conceptualization skills by encouraging them to visualize the events of the story in their minds and record those images on paper.
Rhymes emphasize the relationship between reoccurring sounds and letters, known as phonics. An activity such as learning a nursery rhyme and having the children offer alternatives to the rhyming words encourages their understanding of this phonetic concept. For example, gather a group of small children and recite "Little Bo Peep." Recite the rhyme correctly the first time, then ask the children for possible substitutions of words that also rhyme: "Little Bo Peep, she lost her...what would be another word we could use that sounds like sheep?"
Tracing sandpaper letters builds fine motor skills and letter recognition. Arrange the letters in a line along the floor or at an activity table and demonstrate the correct tracing direction by moving your fingers over the letters right to left and top to bottom. Tracing the individual sandpaper letters helps children learn the directional flow of each character, which lets them transition easily to writing letters.